Backwards
by capableoflove
Summary: What would happen if Harry didn't hate Draco at all? What if they were best friends? If everything was different, would some things still stay the same?
1. Ch 1 The Date

_**Disclaimer: **In no way do I own anything relating to Harry Potter._

_**A/N:** I haven't posted or written any stories in a while, so I'm curious to see people's thoughts. This will be a multi-chaptered story, probably my longest so far. I have more written but am looking for a beta and am still converting my handwritten pages into a typed document. Call me old fashioned._

**The Date**

"Gin. Hey Ginny! Wait up!" Harry called after her, smiling down at his friend. She looked up at him and waved. "Hold on for one second." He dashed down the flight of stairs and paused out of breath in front of her.

"You're not going to believe this," he started pausing to breath deeply. "Guess where we're going during the next Hogsmeade weekend." He had that self-satisfied look on his face that Ginny knew meant he thought he knew something she didn't.

"I don't know. Hogsmeade perhaps?" she asked sarcastically. He gave her a look that made it clear to her that he didn't appreciate her sarcasm.

"Well yes, but that's not the surprise." he paused dramatically, but realized Ginny wasn't in the mood to humor him so he continued. "We're going to meet Amanda Linstrom." he paused expecting her to jump up and down with joy. He was slightly disappointed when her only reaction was a genuine, but moderate, smile.

"That's fantastic! How'd you manage that?" her tone clearly implied disbelief.

"He didn't. I did." the droll voice sounded from above and Ginny looked up into the face of her other best friend.

"Draco you dog! How on earth do you know Amanda Linstrom?"

"I met her at one of my mother's luncheons this summer," he winked, "and I'm sure you can guess the rest."

And Ginny could guess. Draco was a playboy and always had been. Girls swooned over his refined good looks and bad boy image. Ginny doubted that any girl Draco put his mind to attaining could resist his charms.

Draco simply smirked at Ginny who sighed and rolled her eyes at him. She was used to Draco's antics.

"Well I'm sure you two will have loads of fun, but sorry, I have other plans." she shrugged apologetically. Harry looked utterly surprised, while Draco's face betrayed his shock only to Ginny's familiar eyes.

"But she's practically your hero! You have a poster of her on your wall. What other plans could you possibly have that would compete with meeting a world-famous Quidditch star?" Harry asked his voice clearly implying he thought she'd gone mad.

"It's no big deal, I'm just busy." she explained, "Maybe next time." It was clear to both boys that there was something Ginny didn't want to tell them. She had never been so... un-Ginny before.

"What are your plans?" Draco's voice sounded icy to his ears, and Harry knew he was upset. Draco had wanted to surprise Ginny, and he thought she was going to be ecstatic. But Harry thought that Draco's anger was slightly unwarranted, after all, it wasn't a big deal. They didn't always have to do everything together, just the three of them. Her response was strange certainly, but it wasn't a big a deal.

"I'm going to Hogsmeade with Theodore Nott." she admitted looking down. Harry realized why she had tried to avoid telling Draco her plans.

"That prat?!" Draco exploded. "Why on earth would you want to go anywhere with him. Just cancel." Harry immediately knew that Draco had miscalculated and was about to be slammed by the petite redhead.

"Draco Malfoy!" Ginny scolded, sounding just like her mum, "You do not control my social life. I can see who I want whenever I want. And today I want to see Theo. Got it?" Draco looked away at a nearby portrait, Harry could see a muscle in his jaw ticking violently. When neither of them spoke, she continued, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a date to get ready for!" she turned on her heel and stomped down the staircase toward the dungeons. Harry looked over at Draco and paused. Draco was furious, but there was something else. Harry couldn't quite place it, but something else besides anger lurking in his eyes.

Before he could analyze the look any further, he heard giggling from behind him and turned to look for the source. In a dark corner, surrounded by shadows, was Hermione Granger and her shy friend Pansy Parkinson. His eyes narrowed and he turned to her.

"What's so funny Granger?" he spit out. How dare she laugh at him. She seemed unaffected by his glare and took a step forward into the light.

"The two of you being chastised like little puppies" she giggled. "In fact, I'm sure I saw your tail go between your legs at one point." She was openly laughing at him. He blushed. Granger always managed to make him feel stupid.

"Mind your own business!" he snapped. Her eyes widened with pretend shock, and she clutched her hands dramatically against her chest.

"Oh my." she cooed. "Someone seems a little bit sensitive. Touchy, touchy." she wagged her finger at him as if she was indeed scolding a puppy who had misbehaved. She always got the better of him, but not this time. Harry wasn't about to let this girl make him feel like a fool. He reacted in the only way he knew how. Harry stepped forward abruptly bring him in arm's reach of her. She started backwards, but he grabbed her arm before she could go anywhere. With his other hand he reached up and gently brushed an errant strand of hair out of her face, subtly caressing her cheek.

She didn't flinch, but he could tell she had stopped breathing. Her eyes had gotten wide with his sudden intrusion into her personal space.

He leaned forward until his lips were scant inches away from her face and whispered, "Is that what you want?" she shivered, and he pulled back looking into her wide brown eyes, "For me to be touchy?" He noticed, with satisfaction, her gaze drop briefly to his lips and she opened her mouth to speak.

"Your breath reeks." she whispered conspiratorially and before he had even realized what she said, she disappeared down the hall. He felt blood rush to his face and resisted the urge to cup a hand over his mouth and smell his breath. That damn woman! She always managed to turn everything around on him. He looked around for his friend Draco, who was looking at him with a mixture of pity and surprise. Without a word, Harry turned and stormed down the corridor.

He hadn't planned to go anywhere in particular, but before long he found himself sitting on the bleachers, still seething over Granger and her infuriating habit of always getting the better of him. He couldn't erase the picture of her smug face as she walked away. He'd never had an urge to strike a girl before he met Granger. Not that he would ever hit her, but the urge was there all the same. The only thing he was better than her at was Quidditch, but that day sitting by the pitch, that fact gave him very little satisfaction.

He heard faint voices as someone seemed to be getting closer. Harry didn't want to be bothered so he slumped down in the bleachers. But not before he noticed that one of the people walking through the middle of the pitch was none other than Draco. His platinum blond hair pretty much makes hiding his identity impossible. However, Harry couldn't tell who the other person was. They were short and knowing Draco most likely a girl.

Draco seemed to be arguing with her about something and motioning with his hands enthusiastically. That caught Harry's attention. Draco didn't argue with girls, he seduced them, so who was this person he was talking to. Whatever, Draco wanted, the girl seemed to agree because she nodded her head at him and walked off the pitch, the shadows obscuring her face.

A little while later after Draco had gone back in, Harry left as well. Draco having a secret rendezvous was nothing new to Harry. In fact, Harry decided, Draco had the right idea. Harry strolled back to the castle, hands in his pockets trying to decide which girl he would pick that night.


	2. Ch 02 The Plan

_**Disclaimer: **In no way do I own anything relating to Harry Potter._

_**A/N:** This is chapter 2 in the saga. Just in case you were curious, I pretty much have thought through how they all became friends and when I'm done with this I'll most likely go back and write something to explain that, but right now I have this story in my head and I have to get it out. Another thing is this might seem kind of fragmented, but the chapter's aren't necessarily written right after one another, there is a period of time that passes between them. Hope you enjoy it!  
_

**The Plan**_  
_

Ginny was bored, and if she was bored, Draco was probably bored as well. Which was a problem, because Ginny knew never to let her best friend get bored. Bad things tended to happen when he got bored. She always thought it was a byproduct of his upbringing. His parents didn't really care what he did, and he was often left alone in the Manor, with only his deviousness to amuse him. His parents lack of attention caused him to grow up believing he could do anything he wanted without consequences. Grudgingly, Ginny had to admit that most of the time it was true, at least when Dumbledore wasn't involved. He could see through Draco from a mile away. She looked up from her notes and found Draco staring at her. She made a silly face at him and he shook his head at her in mock-disapproval. She looked back down at her work.

"I have an idea," he began and she groaned, letting herself fall back against the pillow dramatically. "Wait hear me out, it's a good one this time. I swear." she looked up at his earnest face and sighed. She sat up straight and looked at him knowingly.

"Last time you said that I ended up cold, dirty, and dangling upside down from a tree branch 30 feet in the air." she reminded him gently.

"Okay so that was a stupid idea, but this one isn't. Just hear me out." he insisted, "Please?" Draco put all of his considerable charm into making a puppy-dog face that would melt the heart of the devil himself. She rolled her eyes at him.

"Fine. What's the plan?"

"Well you know how I got detention for getting into a fight with your brother, Ron?" she opened her mouth to say something, but Draco continued, "I know, I know. No fighting your brother. Anyways, there I was going to the third floor broom closet to get a bucket to clean out the trophy room when I came up with a solution for Grumpy McGee." Harry had been unusually taciturn in the last couple of days and Draco and Ginny weren't sure why. It had started on the day they had fought about her date with Theo. Draco and Ginny had made up hours later like they always did after their little tiffs, but Harry had been acting strangely ever since. "I think he likes Granger." Draco said this obviously expecting Ginny to show surprise, or at least disagree with him. She merely nodded her head.

"You think that's news? I've known forever. The poor boy doesn't stand a chance against her. Granger's a total ball buster." Ginny said shaking her head and going back to work after Draco's anticlimactic proclamation.

"How'd you know...? You know what, never mind. Here's the thing. Harry is in total denial and they need someone, that would be us, to get them going in the right direction."

"Wow, Draco." Ginny seemed surprised, "I'm surprised at you. I never thought I'd see you trying to play the matchmaker."

"Don't be too proud of me. I think Harry's an idiot, but he still seriously needs to get laid because these past couple of days he's totally killing any good mood I get. I'm getting headaches from all his whining and complaining about this and that. I'm not doing this out of the goodness of my crooked heart. I just want some peace and quiet around here." Ginny knew this wasn't true. She knew that deep down Draco was a good friend and only wanted his friend to be happy. At least that's what she liked to think.

"So I've got a plan, but we'll need help so I decided to bring in an expert." Ginny looked at Draco with bewilderment.

"An expert?"

"Pansy."

"Parkinson?" she asked her voice betraying her surprise. She didn't know Draco even knew the timid girl.

"She set Blaise and Luna up. Don't tell me you thought they happened by chance?"

"Well, yeah. That's what I thought..."

"She's good. I promise." Ginny still looked hesitant, so Draco reminded her, "Plus she's Granger's best friend. We need her."

"Fine." Ginny said with a shrug of her shoulders, they were going to need whatever help they could get to set up two of Hogwart's stubbornest students.

"Good," Draco beamed, "because she'll be here in a few minutes." he grinned at her and she threw the pillow she'd been leaning on at his head.

"You didn't even ask me." Ginny pouted.

"I knew I could convince you. Plus, if my irresistible Malfoy charm failed me, I could've always resorted to coercive tickling." he pounced on her and started tickling her wildly. She tried to defend herself, but Draco wasn't ticklish so she had no way to fight back. He ignored her pleas to stop and continued tickling her on her sides.

"Ahem." the two rambunctious teenagers didn't hear.

"Ahem." the voice called again from the doorway, louder this time. Ginny looked up from under Drac's assault and saw a tall, pretty brunette standing in the doorway.

"Pansy." Draco acknowledged the girl without moving. He was straddling Ginny, pinning both of her hands above her head with one hand. Ginny noticed he seemed unaware of their awkward position. She took advantage of Draco's momentary distraction and shifted her weight violently, rolling Draco over and pinning his arms with her knees. She looked over at the Gryffindor.

"Pansy." she nodded at the girl.

"Ginny." Ginny shifted her attention down to a grinning Draco.

"Draco?"

"I like your knickers." he said winking and she realized that he could indeed see up her skirt. She rolled off of him quickly smacking him as she did it. "What?" Draco asked sheepishly, "I do."

"So now that we all know each others' names, we can get down to business." Pansy, showing a bossier side than Ginny knew she possessed, brought their attention back to the matter at hand, "Draco's already told me the plan, but I still don't know why you expect me to trust you or help you."

"Your Granger's best mate aren't you?" Draco asked. "You want her to be happy, right? Trust me, Harry will make her happy."

"I know what type of guy Potter is. He goes through girls like used tissues and then tosses them aside. I'm not going help him hurt Hermione."

"Just listen, Harry fancies her. Has for a while now, but he's too much of a chicken to tell her. And we're tired of him moping around all the time. So we're coming to you asking us to help the both of them."

"Fine," Pansy acceded, "but only because I've seen her around him and I think she likes him too. You promise he'll be a gentleman if she's not interested?"

"Of course." Ginny assured her. Harry would never force a girl.

"Okay. I might live to regret this, but I'll help you."

"Awesome." Ginny said brightly, "So what's the plan?"

Draco spoke up, "The tension between the two of them has been simmering for quite a while and I was thinking that all we need to do is get them together, add some fuel, and they'll combust."

* * *

Ginny strode through the common room, her eyes sweeping the room. She saw him almost immediately. He was snogging a 5th year in a dark corner. Ginny made a face at his disgusting display and walked over to the couple. She tapped Harry on the shoulder. He looked up at her angrily. When he saw the person interrupting him was Ginny, his face morphed into one of annoyance.

"What do you want Pipsqueak?" he asked, using his old nickname for her.

"I need to talk to you." she tried to put as much urgency into her voice as she could.

"Can't this wait? I'm kind of busy right now." he sighed, looking pointedly at the blushing girl next to him.

"No it can't wait," she insisted. She grabbed him by the arm and hauled him forcefully to his feet. "Sorry. I'll return him in one piece." she told the thoroughly embarrassed girl.

"I doubt that." Harry grumbled under his breath. Ginny ignored the remark and dragged him off towards the portrait.

"I can walk all by myself you know. Harry's a big boy." he said sarcastically, and pulling his arm out of her grasp.

"Don't be sour just because I interrupted your little snogging session. Plus, isn't she a bit young for you?"

"She's only a year younger than you." Harry said in his own defense.

"This is true," she admitted, "but you've never snogged me."

"And I don't plan to." he said laughing. She smacked his arm playfully, and clutched at her chest dramatically.

"Nobody wants me." she said mock-seriously.

"So why did you enjoy my perfectly enjoyable snog by the way?" he asked. Ginny knew that if anyone else had tried to do what she had just done, Harry would have killed them. Luckily, she could get away with a lot.

"I really need your help with this potion thing, it's killing me." she explained.

"You know I'm rotten at potions, ask Draco." he said turning to return to the common room. She caught his arm.

"Couldn't find him. You'll have to do." and without another word, she turned and guided him back down the corridor.

After locking the door, Ginny hurried up to the nook where she knew Draco and Pansy would be waiting for her. They were both there; Pansy looked anxious and Draco looked smug as always.

"Relax Parkinson. Everything went according to plan." Ginny assured the wide-eyed girl.

"I'm not worried about the plan." Pansy snapped, "I'm worried about Hermione being stuck in that room with him. What if he does something to her?' It was Ginny's turn to snap.

"Harry would never!!" she bristled at what the brunette was implying about one of her best friends.

"Are you honestly trying to tell me that Harry has never hurt a girl?" Pansy snorted.

"He would never do anything that the girl didn't want. Plus, we've never seen him act this way about anyone. The poor bloke's besotted by her."

"I'm holding you accountable." Pansy threatened. Ginny was about to snap back when Draco laid a hand on her arm soothingly.

"We need to just calm down," he murmered, "The plan was a success. Plus, I was going to allow the two of you to have the honor of being my date to Hogsmeade now that those two will be stuck in there for a while."

"Is that so?" Pansy asked rolling her eyes at him.

"Yes it is. I'll even let you decide what we do." he said magnanimously. The two girls exchanged a mischevious look.

"Okay we'll go with you," Ginny winked at Pansy. "If those two are still in there when we get back, we'll let them out."


End file.
